Chapter 1 - THE SCAR THAT SHOULDN’T EXIST
The second scar changed everything.
Not because it was large.
Because it was hidden.
The incision sat several inches below Gabriel’s gunshot wound, just left of his spine. Less than two inches long. Fresh sutures. Faint swelling around the edges.
I leaned closer without touching it.
“Luca, get me every medical record from that clinic.”
He stared at the wound.
“I already gave you the file.”
“No. You gave me the file they wanted you to have.”
Gabriel’s eyes opened.
“Vincent.”
His voice was weak.
But certain.
I looked at him.
“What about Vincent?”
“He arranged the clinic.”
“I know.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“He stayed.”
“During surgery?”
His eyes drifted closed.
“I remember waking.”
Luca moved closer.
“What did you hear?”
Gabriel’s breathing became uneven.
“Vale arguing.”
“With Vincent?”
“Yes.”
“What about?”
He tried to focus.
Then whispered:
“Not supposed to wake up.”
Every hair on my arms lifted.
Luca reached for his phone.
I stopped him.
“First we stabilize him.”
“Someone operated on my boss without authorization.”
“And your boss has an oxygen saturation of eighty-six.”
Luca stared at me.
I stared back.
“Decide what matters for the next ten minutes.”
That worked.
I checked Gabriel’s neurological response.
His legs barely moved.
Sensation was inconsistent.
The fever had climbed.
When I gently pressed near the lower incision, Gabriel’s entire body tightened.
“Pain?”
His jaw clenched.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since surgery.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“Vale said normal.”
Of course he did.
I asked Luca for the medications Gabriel had been receiving.
He brought a locked case.
Pain medication.
Antibiotics.
Sedatives.
Anti-nausea medication.
I checked the labels against the administration record.
Something didn’t match.
One antibiotic listed in the chart was not in the case.
Another bottle had a pharmacy label covering an older label underneath.
“What?”
Luca noticed my expression.
“I don’t know yet.”
I peeled nothing off.
Photographed everything instead.
Evidence first.
Then Gabriel suddenly started shaking.
Not anger.
Rigors.
His teeth clenched hard enough to make his jaw tremble.
“Call an ambulance.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“He won’t go.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“Do you want to keep your legs?”
His eyes opened.
That reached him.
“What?”
“I think there may be an infection near your spine.”
Luca went pale.
Gabriel stared at me.
“If I’m right, staying here because hospitals make you uncomfortable is a very expensive way to become permanently paralyzed.”
“I don’t do hospitals.”
“Tonight you do.”
His breathing became harsher.
Then he looked at Luca.
“Call.”
Luca did.
That alone told me how frightened Gabriel was.
While we waited, I opened the clinic discharge summary again.
Procedure:
Removal of retained ballistic fragment, left posterior shoulder.
Nothing about the lower back.
No spinal procedure.
No second incision.
No explanation.
Then I noticed the signature.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
And beneath it:
Witness: Vincent Moretti.
I looked at Luca.
“Why would Vincent witness a medical consent?”
“He wouldn’t.”
Gabriel opened his eyes.
“Unless…”
His voice faded.
I leaned closer.
“Unless what?”
He whispered:
“Unless I signed something.”
Luca frowned.
“You were sedated.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Exactly.”
The ambulance arrived twelve minutes later.
As paramedics lifted Gabriel onto the stretcher, one of them checked the hidden incision.
His expression changed.
“What?”
I asked.
He pointed near the sutures.
“There’s drainage.”
Dark fluid had begun seeping through.
Gabriel’s fever was not the only emergency anymore.
Then Luca’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His face went white.
“What happened?”
He lowered the phone.
“Dr. Vale is gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Nobody knows.”
Then Gabriel forced his eyes open.
“No.”
He looked directly at Luca.
“Find Vincent first.”
May you like
And before the elevator doors closed, Gabriel whispered:
“Vale follows orders.”
